Our Duty to the Message of Fatima and Praying the Novena May 4-May 12

Hello Everyone:

​As Traditional Lay Carmelites, we preserve the Traditions that have been lost over the years such as True Devotion to Our Blessed Mother through the Rosary and the Scapular. By being faithful to the Fatima message, we can pray the Rosary for the Church in imitation of Our Lady. By wearing our Scapular daily, we are consecrating ourselves to Her service and begging Her for guidance and protection as we journey toward our goal which is Heaven.

To remind the three children of their special vocation and to inspire them to greater fervor and courage for the future, Our Lady said:  "Sacrifice yourself for sinners and say often, especially when you make some sacrifice, 'My Jesus, it is for the love of Thee, for the conversion of sinners, and in reparation for the sins committed against the Immaculate Heart of Mary.' " We as Traditional Carmelites can live this as well.

In each of the apparitions of Our Lady at Fatima, she insisted on praying the Rosary.  "Pray the Rosary every day to obtain peace for the world."  Lucia often repeated and emphasized what Our Lady had first recommended to her:  "Yes, She wishes people to recite the Rosary; people must recite the Rosary."  Our Lady asked them to add after each decade the short prayer:  "Oh my Jesus forgive us our sins; save us from the fires of Hell.  Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy."  In the final apparition on October 13, 1917, Our Lady silently held out the Scapular (the brown scapular of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel).  Lucia had said that the Blessed Mother wants everyone to wear it by stating:  "The Scapular and the Rosary are inseparable."

Lucia spoke to Our Lady of the sick who had been recommended to Her. "Yes, I shall cure some of them within the year."  But she went on teaching them to pray rather for the health of souls than of bodies. "Pray!  Pray a great deal and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no one to pray and make sacrifices for them."

Lucia asked Our Lady about two girls who used to come to her house that had recently died.  "Is little Maria Das Neves, who died recently, in Heaven?"  "Yes, she is in Heaven." . . .  "and Amelia?"  "She will be in Purgatory till the end of the world."

Remember also that when Our Lady told Lucia that they were all going to Heaven someday, She also stated that Francesco would have to say many Rosaries. He was only nine years old.  This is something we all need to meditate on. IT IS NOT EASY TO GET TO HEAVEN!  We are so complacent in this modern world of ease and comfort. We are told to loosen up and tolerate more than we use to. Has God changed??? The answer is no - the enemy has entered in and is deceiving MANY - MANY SOULS! Therefore, we must be diligent and pray daily - especially the Rosary - especially during this month of May.

Our Lady predicted that God would work a great miracle on October 13, 1917 to prove the authenticity of the apparitions. The Fatima message is so little known and so little loved that I can not imagine how much more this message would be silenced if this miracle did not happen. IT WOULD BE WORSE!! The Popes since then have made an effort to appear there or to give honor but is it enough? Has the First Saturday message, The Daily Rosary message, The Scapular message been promoted and loved by the faithful? This is crucial for the salvation of so many! We only get one life - eternity never ends. Do you have family members that have fallen away from the Church? Maybe some friends? God had allowed a tremendous prodigy to happen on that day just as Our Lady had promised. For four minutes, the noontime sun spun around giving off various colors, one after the other. It stopped and started again for four more minutes, this time giving off even more beautiful colors. Then it stopped again. Then it started again. This time it detached itself from its regular position and began to zigzag in the sky. It "danced" for about four minutes, then started to plummet to the earth. It looked like it was the end of the world. Many people fell on their knees to ask for mercy of God. The sun then returned to its original position in the sky. It was witnessed by over 70,000 people who all, both believers and unbelievers, came away acknowledging that a great miracle had occurred. Several learned men present testified:  "I have seen it but I cannot explain it."
 
This miracle, after the Resurrection, was the first public miracle that was predicted to happen and did. This makes Fatima a different kind of message. Yes, it is a private revelation but being that God wanted a public miracle to take place means that the message is for all and that it is a serious one.

We, as Carmelites must be diligent in giving The Hearts of Jesus and Mary many prayers of Reparation to repair for the offences received by them from ungrateful souls especially the sleepy leaders in the Church who are not advocating this message in order to bring peace to the world and salvation to souls. There are many souls falling into Hell each day and each hour – we must be attentive to that and pray the Rosary for their salvation. She had asked the children to pray for the souls that are falling into Hell because there is no one to pray for them. (No second chance on eternity)

This gives our Carmelite vocation true meaning. It gives us a means to strive for perfection through our daily duty and our prayers that are scattered throughout our busy day. By wearing Our Scapular and praying the Rosary, and making acts and prayers of Reparation – we are living as true Carmelites in imitation of Our Lady.

We must strive to do our Little Office morning and night for Our Lady and to give Our Eternal Father worship for all those who do not love Him – we must thank Him for all that He gives the world each day! This gives our day meaning and a great participation in the redemptive work of the Trinity. Praying the Little Office is requested for the Sabbatine Privilege. We are fulfilling the obligation necessary for Our Lady to look upon us as true Carmelites and to give her the opportunity to release our souls from Purgatory on the Saturday after our death. This is a great gift from God and this is no longer required in the changed post Vatican II Rule!

Tomorrow starts the first day to the Novena to Our Lady of Fatima. Below are the prayers that we can say for each of the nine days! God bless all of you through the prayers and intercession of our good Queen and Mother of Mount Carmel.

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Novena to Our Lady of Fatima